Many mountain bicycle riders are passionate about the mountain bicycle riding experience. They pay attention to the functioning of each piece and want to use the best equipment possible. For many such persons, the pedal is of paramount concern. Because the pedal is one of the points of connection between the ride and the mountain bike, the right or wrong pedal can change how the rider interacts with both the bicycle and the trail. Whether the rider is going off a jump, pedaling hard, or coasting along, the pedal, together with the grips and the seat, are one of the most important points of connection on a mountain bike. And, the choice of pedal can also have long term effects on a rider's knees, back, and feet.
Consequently, mountain bike pedal design is of great importance. Typically, there are two categories of mountain bike pedals: “flats” where the user's foot simply presses against the pedal, or “clipless,” which despite the name refers to a pedal wherein a shoe can removably clip to the pedal for added connection. Many serious riders prefer the constant connection provided by clipless pedals, but others prefer the freedom of flats. Indeed, persons with bad knees may prefer flats so they can better control the movement of their knees.
The problem with clipless pedals is intertwined with their benefit: it is cumbersome or difficult to disconnect the shoe from the pedal. So it can be seen that a need exists for a pedal with the control and connection of the clipless pedal, but that also provides the freedom and natural movement of the flat pedal.
Various attempts to solve this problem have been made. One such attempt can be seen with respect to U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,963, incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, which generally discloses a magnetic bicycle pedal using six Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) magnets in the pedal. While this disclosure does generally provide for a magnetic pedal, it not only requires Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB), rather than simply Neodymium, it also requires at least six such magnets in a coordinated arrangement, which could presumably be easily damaged and rendered nonfunctional in harsh conditions.
Another attempt can be seen with respect to U.S. Pat. No. 9,545,972, incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, which generally discloses a magnetic mountain bike pedal. While this disclosure does provide for a single Neodymium magnet in each of the pedal and the shoe elements of the disclosure, this disclosure fails to provide for zinc or stainless steel protective plating for the magnets (providing only for steel plating), which changes the magnets' protection, in some ways possibly for the worse.
Yet another attempt can be seen with respect to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0137274 A1 incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, which generally discloses another magnetic shoe/pedal device having an angled cylinder element on the shoe that may be received into the pedal. While theoretically enabling magnetic joining and unjoining, the design of the cylinder element not only makes this disclosure more likely to be damaged, walking on such a device may also affect the user's musculature.
Various attempts have been made to solve the problems which may be found in the related art but have thus far been unsuccessful. A need exists for a new magnetic mountain bike pedal assembly to avoid the above-mentioned problems.